If Windows, Linux and OSX Opened Cafes

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Marvin

What if really… LOL! I found this from DaniWeb, it’s short and entertaining! Read on…

The New York Times reported today that Apple has opened its first Apple Store in Paris, underneath the Louvre no less, and just two weeks after Microsoft opened up a Windows 7 cafe in Paris in another location. The idea of these two companies competing in a retail environment, and especially a Windows-themed cafe, got me thinking about what would happen if three cafes opened each run in the same style of the operating system it was named for. I figure it might look something like this:

Windows Cafe

The Windows Cafe is in a bland store front. The furniture consists of straight wooden chairs with tables with sharp angles. Unfortunately, every so often when you sit in a chair it crashes the to the floor, but you get used to this and figure it’s just part of the experience of going to the Windows Cafe. (To be fair they have been testing chairs from a new manufacturer and they are reportedly less prone to breaking in this fashion.) Pictures of a smiling Bill Gates and Windows logos adorn the walls. The coffee tastes fine most of the time, but a surprising number of patrons get sick there, so that it’s become standard practice to use hand sanitizer before you go in to protect yourself. The coffee is expensive, and refills are definitely not free, but it’s a known quantity, and many people are comfortable going there.

Linux Cafe

The Linux Cafe is a funky place in an artsy neighborhood with eclectic furniture donated by the patrons. It doesn’t match, but it’s comfortable and the walls are covered with donated pictures and paintings by local artists. The coffee is free, served in black cups (or you can just bring your own), but you need to make it yourself. If you can’t do it yourself, the cafe has consultants available to help you for a fee. It’s great for people who know about coffee brewing, but many people are intimidated by the idea of making their own coffee and stay away, even though very few people ever get sick who go there.

Apple Cafe

The Apple Cafe is a modern, state-of-the-art facility. The tables are stainless steel and the chairs are ultra-contemporary. Shrines to Apple CEO Steve Jobs are dotted around the wide space. The cups are cool and come in a variety of bright colors. The coffee is well made by a highly trained staff, and even though it costs a lot more, people line up around the block for a chance to drink it. Just don’t ask the staff about their coffee-making techniques because they are extremely tight lipped about this. People occasionally get sick there, but it’s rare enough for the cafe to brag about its safety record.

So there you have it. Three cafes with three distinct personalities just like the operating systems they represent

Source: http://www.daniweb.com/news/story236836.html?urlhash=yp4q&trk=nus_ritm-title by Ron Miller

List of verified relief centers for ‘Ondoy’ victims

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Marvin

This is the list of verified relief centers where people can drop off their donations for the victims of “Ondoy:”

MANILA

De La Salle University

Go to: 2401 De La Salle, Taft Avenue, Manila. Enter south gate near McDonald’s, people at the registration center will entertain you.

Hotline: 524-4611 local 128; 523-6158; 526-5612

Members of the academic community requiring immediate assistance may contact the following numbers:

0906-4200732; 0919-8018121; 0922-8877495 for students, faculty, and staff

0905-3603655 for alumni

Look for: Paulo Mutuc, Bro. Bernie Oca, and Kat Regaladao

Operations: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday until Saturday

Web site: www.dlsu.edu.ph

You can:

Donate food like rice, noodles, and canned goods; drinking water; toiletries; clothes and blankets; and medicines
Help through cash and check donations through:

DLSU – Ondoy Relief Fund
UCPB Vito Cruz Branch, Taft Ave., Manila 1104

Peso Account No. 001201147119
Dollar Account No. 011203000358
Swift Code: UCPB PHMM

Kindly remember to include all details listed above in your deposit slip, and send an e-mail to sc@dlsu.edu.ph confirming your donation.

QUEZON CITY

UP College of Arts and Letters

Go to: College of Arts and Letters (CAL)
University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

Hotline: 09296454102 (Prof. Roselle Pineda)

Look for: Guard on Duty (in UP CAL)

Operations: 24 hours until Wednesday tentatively

You can:

Donate medicines, clothes, blankets, food to be distributed by Citizens’ Disaster Response Center.

Erica Paredes

Go to: Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City
(Call or text contact number for complete address) Contact #: 09174741930

Look for: Erica Paredes

Operations: Throughout the week tentatively, from 10 am to 6 pm

You can:

Donate ready-to-eat foods like hard-boiled egg, bread, packed juice, sandwich filling
Volunteer to prepare sandwiches and distribute goods

NoyMar Relief Operations – QC

Go to: Balay Expo Center, Farmers Market, Cubao or in White Space, Pasong Tamo Ext., Near BMW, Makati

Look for: Clare Amador or Jana Vicente

Hotlines: 09285205508, 09285205499, 0908-6579998, 0939-3633436, 9137122

Operations: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout the week until further notice.

Website: www.marroxas.com

You can:

Donate drinking water, old medicines, clothing, blankets, canned goods, noodles
Volunteer to man stations and repack food.

Miriam Quiambao and World Vision Development Foundation

Go to: One Orchard Road Building in Eastwood or at the World Vision office at 389 Quezon Avenue, corner West 6th St., Quezon City

Hotline: 0917-8623209

Look for: The guard in the lobby (on One Orchard Road)

Website: http://www.twitter.com/miriamq, www.worldvision.org.ph

Operations: Until Sept. 28, 2009 (Monday), 24-hour operation

You can:

Donate goods like clothes, blankets, canned goods, crackers, mattress, hygiene kits, noodles, bottled water, oatmeal, instant coffee, sugar (for relief pack to be distributed by World Vision)
Volunteer to help repack relief goods for World Vision starting today at 7pm
Deposit cash donations to World Vision Development Foundation, BPI savings account number 4251002415 and BDO savings account number 270043411

Philippine Army

Go to: Philippine Army Gym inside Fort Bonifacio, Makati or General Head Quarter’s Gym in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, EDSA, Quezon City

Hotline: 892-3417 (direct line), 845-9555 (trunkline) local. 6464 and 6466

Look for: Any personnel on duty

Operations: Ongoing everyday for 24 hours until further notice

You can:

Donate relief goods (no cash)
Call hotline for rescue, evacuation or relief assistance.
Call to report missing persons

Papemelroti Gifts and Decorative Accessories

Go to: 91 Roces Ave., Corner Scout Tobias, Quezon City or mall branches in Ali Mall Cubao, SM City North EDSA, SM Fairview, SM Megamall, Glorietta 3 in Makati, SM Centerpoint, SM Southmall

Hotline: refer to website for individual branch numbers

Website: www.papemelroti.com

Operations: Mall hours (10am-9pm), ongoing everyday until further notice

You can:

Donate goods like canned goods, clothings, blanket, cooking utensils and other relief goods EXCEPT cash.

Ateneo de Manila University Disaster Response Group

Go to: Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights , Quezon City, Manuel V. Pangilinan Building Center for Student Leadership Lobby, University Dorm Cervini Hall

Hotlines: 09089977166, 09178952792, 4266001 local 5050

Look for: Gio Tiongson, President, Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral

Website: www.ateneosanggu.com

Operations: 24-hour operations for the entire week

You can:

Donate goods like bottled water, sardines, canned goods, candles, cup noodles.
Volunteer to help repack relief goods, administer basic first aid.
Report missing persons.
Seek evacuation/temporary shelter at University Dorm Cervini Hall.

Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC)

Go To: 72-A Times St., West Triangle Homes, Quezon City.

Hotlines: 9299820, 9299822

Operations: 8 a.m. onwards.

You can:

Donate money, old clothes, blanket, bigas, munggo.
Volunteer to help distribute goods.

Radio Veritas

Go To: Veritas Tower , West Ave. corner EDSA

Look For: Karla Turingan

Hotlines: 9257931 to 39, 0918VERITAS

Operations: 24-hours, tentatively until Tuesday.

You can:

Donate old clothes, food, assorted goods, bottled water, cash.

Our Lady of Pentecost Parish

Go to: 12 F. dela Rosa cor. C. Salvador Streets, Loyola Heights , Quezon City

Hotlines: 632 4342397, 63 2 9290665

Operations: 7 a.m. till 10 p.m. Sunday, until further notice.

You Can:

Donate packed meals, bottled water.

GMA Kapuso Foundation

Go to: GMAKF warehouse at Charles Conrad St., Dona Faustina Village, Tandang Sora, QC

Hotlines: 632 9317013

You Can:

Help repack donated items, send donations.

WARNING: Please ignore emails instructing you to send donations to various bank accounts. There have been fraudulent users who send emails instructing people to send donations to specific bank accounts not owned by GMA Kapuso Foundation. Here’s a list of legitimate bank accounts:

METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COMPANY (METROBANK)

Peso Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 3-098-51034-7

Dollar Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 2-098-00244-2
Code : MBTC PH MM

UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK (UCPB)

Peso Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 115-184777-2
: 160-111277-7

Dollar Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 01-115-301177-9
: 01-160-300427-6
Code : UCPB PH MM

BANCO DE ORO (BDO)

Peso Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 469-0022189

Dollar Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 469-0072135

Code : BNORPHM

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK (PNB)

Peso Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 121-0032000-17

Dollar Savings
Account Name : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number : 121-0032000-25
Code : PNB MPH MM

MAKATI/TAGUIG/MUNTINLUPA

Victory Fellowship – Fort Bonifacio

Go to: Victory Fellowship, Every Nation Building , across Market-Market, Fort Bonifacio

Look for: Pastor Bernard Marquez

Hotlines: 813-FORT, 8171212

Operations: Tentatively until 5pm, may may extend hours. Entire week until Friday.

Website: www.twitter.com/VictoryFort

You can:

Donate canned goods, milk, bottled water, clothes, cash.
Volunteer to help pack relief goods

Sacred Heart of Jesus Chaplaincy

Go to: Hillsborough Village, Cupang, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila

Hotline: 8428148, 8079847

Look for: Genelyn Sembrano, Meanne Cuneta

Website: www.sacredheartofjesus-alabang.org

Operations: Tuesday-Sunday (Sept. 29-Oct 4). 8 am to 12 noon, 2 to 6 pm

You can:

Donate water, blankets, shoes, clothes and other goods
Donate in cash

PASIG CITY

LUZON RELIEF: Volunteer / Donate / Pray

Go to: Renaissance Fitness Center, 2nd Floor, Bramante Building, Renaissance Towers, Ortigas, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City

Hotline: 0929-8713488

Look for: Warren Habaluyas, co-founder

E-mail: luzonrelief@gmail.com

Operations: Monday to Saturday (Sept. 28-Oct. 3), 9am-7pm

You can:

Donate non-perishable food items, beddings, pillows, blankets, clothes
You can donate cash but it is not encouraged

- Compiled by Annalyn Ardona and Patricia Faustino, GMA NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Source: List of verified relief centers for Ondoy victims

Arial and Helvetica – WhatTheFont!

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Marvin

JvVkK

PHP code block – bringing order to chaos

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Marvin

I had to come up with this post because I’ve been working on an old CMS about 3 years old (or even more) and I had been wondering why the calendar links cuts off from 2001 to 2003.

Task: List a year/month links from the present to the oldest published image sets.

Sounds easy, and I believe it is.

But when I checked on the existing script, this is what I got.

 $month_array = array("1"=>'January',"2"=>'February',"3"=>'March',"4"=>'April',"5"=>'May',"6"=>'June',"7"=>'July',"8"=>'August',"9"=>'September',"10"=>'October',"11"=>'November',"12"=>'December');
	$smarty->assign('y2day',$y2day); $y=0;
	for ($q=12; $q >= 1; $q--){
			$month = $month_array[$q];
			if( ($_GET[year] < '2000') && ($m2day ==$q ) ) $w_string = $week_string; else  $w_string ='';
			if( ($_GET[year] == '2007') && ($_GET[month] == $q) ) $w_string = $week_string;

		  if($m2day >= $q){
			$tmp_cal_month_now_array = array(
					'month' => $month,
					'string' => $w_string,
					'link' => $q
					); $date_month_now_array[$y++] =  $tmp_cal_month_now_array;	 }
		} //for

	 $smarty->assign('calendar_now_month',$date_month_now_array);

	$y=0;	$c_yeartoday = date("Y") -1; //echo $c_yeartoday;
	for($q=0; $q < = 5; $q++){
			$tmp =$c_yeartoday - $q; //echo $tmp;

		 $tmp_cal_date_array = array(
					  'year' => $tmp

				 );  $date_year_array[$y++] =  $tmp_cal_date_array;
	 } //for

	$smarty->assign('calendar_year',$date_year_array);

	    $y=0;
		for($q=12; $q >= 1; $q--)
		{
			$month = $month_array[$q];
			if( $_GET[month] == $q ) $w_string = $week_string; else $w_string='';
			$tmp_cal_month_array = array(
					'month' => $month,
					'string' => $w_string,
					'link' => $q
					); $date_month_array[$y++] =  $tmp_cal_month_array;

		}//for
	 $smarty->assign('calendar_month',$date_month_array);

	 $y=0;
		for($q=12; $q >= 10; $q--)
		{
			$month = $month_array[$q];
			if( ($_GET[year] == '2000') && ($_GET[month] == $q) ) $w_string = $week_string; else $w_string='';
			$tmp_cal_month_old_array = array(
					'month' => $month,
					'string' => $w_string,
					'link' => $q
					); $date_month_old_array[$y++] =  $tmp_cal_month_old_array;

		}//for
	 $smarty->assign('calendar_month_old',$date_month_old_array);

Continue reading →

iPhone Apps for review/install

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Marvin

A list of iPhone Apps I find interesting

eBay Mobile Download
iPhone version of eBay
Air Mouse Download
This is a ‘wow’ app, actually thinking of upgrading Windows machine only for this and turn it into a media center
DropBox Download
Put your files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they’ll be instantly available on any of your other computers that you’ve installed Dropbox on (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!)

Variable, variables and lots of variables

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Marvin

List of variable names, oddly named and other stuff I’m glad I bumped into . Found them in project about 5 or 6 yrs old that needs modification and I believe optimization too, yes really. So why glad? Because I realized the way I named my variables isn’t that bad at all.

/**
 * This one is on top of a movie player page. Maybe 'he' wasn't so sure
 * that the parameters passed on to this page is for a 'video'. Just making
 * sure for the nth time I guess.
 */
$videoistrue=0;
/**
 * I think 'he' hate lines. And this one is good, page title is saved
 * in a session variable, so if another programmer writes a new page
 * and forgot to assign $_SESSION['pagetitle'] a new value for an FAQ
 * page, say faq.php, it'd show up
 */
session_start();$_SESSION['pagetitle'] = "Show Series";
/**
 * ... and it went on and on
 * $_SESSION['pagetitle'] = "Calendar";
 * session_start();$_SESSION['pagetitle'] = "Browse Model";
 *
 * Hmmmm, $ii as iteration variable, struggling with names? I often
 * use $i, $n or $x, sometime $c, hehehe! I've seen $i for many. And
 * have you noticed the class name 'smalleditnoline', can it be any
 * longer? Yes! and if he had enough time, it may have look like
 * 'smalleditnolinewitharialbold' or 'smalleditnolineFFFbgcolor333fgcolor'
 * crazy! This is CSS anyway, will surely post one for that, hahaha!
 */
for ($ii=1;$ii< =$totalpages;$ii++)
{
  if ($ii==$page) {
    echo "[$ii]";
  }
  else {
    echo "[$ii]";
  }
}
/**
 * more variables with default values, note that this is set just
 * before a loop starts
 */
$thisCat = "";
$firstrun = true;
$firstrow = 0;
$rowcount = 0;
/**
 * "NO QUOTES" for key names in square brackets 
 * if only my IDE could complain
 */
$GLOBALS[catadded] = false;
$GLOBALS[keywordadded] = false;
$GLOBALS[modeladded] = false;
/**
 * Consistent! Maybe 'He' doesn't want anybody to easily understand
 * the script that's why no new lines after semi-colon at least.
 */
if ($seriesRow[seriesNo] < 10) $seriesNoTxt = "0".$seriesRow[seriesNo]; else $seriesNoTxt = $seriesRow[seriesNo];

Ok, enough of grumbling here. I have released my frustration for today, going back to work. But if I am to start a project or even a simple script, I follow formatting conventions, consistent quotes and escapes, logical variable names and useful comments with links and samples. It doesn’t only make your code readable, it helps a lot for the next programmer to just add-in the stuff he needs to and keeping his sanity.

Smarty Gravatar plugin

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Marvin

I realize the need for this when working on an MVC based CMS especially with Smarty engine in it.

Oh and in case you’re wondering why its sounds like the upcoming movie Avatar by James Cameron, I don’t know. What it has to do with internet term ‘avatar‘? I really don’t know. But in ‘www’, Gravatar is a short term for “Globally Recognized Avatar” assigned by a user as his/her default avatar in every places of the internet, same people behind WordPress. There are other similar services too.

So, this plugin is based from its documentation

/**
 * Gravatar
 *
 * @link http://www.marvinmarcelo.com
 *
 * @param array $params
 * @param Smarty $smarty
 */
function smarty_function_gravatar($params, &$smarty)
{
  /**
   * constant $gravatar_host
   */
  $gravatar_host = "http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/";

  if ( !isset($params['email']) )
  {
    $smarty->trigger_error("gravatar: email parameter not set");
    return;
  }

  if ( !eregi("^[_a-z0-9-]+(\.[_a-z0-9-]+)*@[a-z0-9-]+(\.[a-z0-9-]+)*(\.[a-z]{2,3})$", $params['email']) )
  {
    $smarty->trigger_error("gravatar: {$params['email']} is not a valid email.");
    return;
  }
  /**
   * @link http://en.gravatar.com/site/implement/url
   */
  $hash = strtolower(md5(trim($params["email"])));
  $src = $gravatar_host . $hash . ".jpg?";

  if ( !isset($params["size"]) || !($params["size"] >= 1 && $params["size"] < =512 ))
  {
    $params["size"] = 32;
  }
  $src .= "s={$params["size"]}";

  if ( !isset($params["default"]) )
  {
    $params["default"] = "identicon";
  }
  $src .= "d={$params["default"]}";

  if ( !isset($params["rating"]) )
  {
    $params["rating"] = "G";
  }
  $src .= "r={$params["rating"]}";

  $extras = "";

  if ( isset($params["class"]) )
  {
    $extras .= " class=\"{$params["class"]}\"";
  }

  if ( isset($params["id"]) )
  {
    $extras .= " id=\"{$params["id"]}\"";
  }
  /**
   * @example http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/7023218434f12aee57f4b03454dadcaa?s=32&d=identicon&r=G
   */
  print "";
}

Simply extract function.gravatar.zip into your Smarty plugin directory. And use it in your template file like this

{gravatar email='someemail@domain.com'}

You’re done!

… coding (the life)

Anything about programming, and a little about me.

Category Archives: me stuff

List of verified relief centers for ‘Ondoy’ victims

Arial and Helvetica – WhatTheFont!

iPhone Apps for review/install

Windows Cafe

Linux Cafe

Apple Cafe

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